1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus to provide delivery of medical treatment to and within tissue or bone. In particular the present invention related to a minimally invasive and particularly small treatment delivery system including a drill and treatment delivery passage. Additionally, the present invention relates to a minimally invasive and particularly small apparatus for drilling of passages in bone for other purposes, such as the imposition of screws or other devices to fix a bone or bone portion in position.
2. Description of the Related Art
Delivery of medical treatments to tissue within bone is particularly difficult. Historically treatment has been delivered through the entire body in sufficient application amounts to ensure the necessary treatment amount reaches the tissue within the bone. As can be expected, this requires application amounts far in excess of the treatment amount necessary and can result in damage to other parts of the body as well as increased costs. Various solutions have been developed to attempt to reduce the application amount, typically by attempting to isolate the affected area from the body, including shunting of blood flow in the affected limb through a heart/lung machine to allow continued circulation within the limb while isolating the blood flow from the rest of the body. Similarly accessing bone to directly apply any treatment amount or to drill into the bone, such as drilling a passage for screws to fix a bone or bone particle in position, has historically been quite difficult and invasive. Moreover, such passages have generally been no smaller than 0.15875 cm (0.0625 inches). Likewise, drilling such passages has resulted in significant fracturing of the bone itself
The need therefore exists for apparatus to provide delivery of medical treatment to and within bone which permits direct application of only the necessary treatment amount and for a system to access bone to directly apply any treatment amount or to drill into the bone such as drilling a passage for screws to fix a bone or bone particle in position, with minimal invasion. A need further exists for an apparatus which may be used with tissue rather than bone.
Such a need may be particularly important in the treatment of osteosarcoma and similar cancers of bone.